


4,232.8 Miles

by Xander_The_Undead



Category: Hannibal Extended Universe - Fandom, James Bond (Craig movies), Shooting Dogs (2005)
Genre: Don't let them fool you, Europe is big guys, Good Mom-ing happening in here, It's a bad idea, M/M, Never travel on Christmas Eve or Day, Sweet Christmas Fluff, Traveling during the holidays sucks ass, Vera is the real hero of the story, unusual weather for England
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28620492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xander_The_Undead/pseuds/Xander_The_Undead
Summary: Jean just wants to get home for Christmas.
Relationships: Le Chiffre (James Bond)/Joe Connor
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	4,232.8 Miles

**Author's Note:**

> This is my Secret Santa gift to the lovely [Ary](https://twitter.com/hannigramteacup)
> 
> As always, a huge huge thank you to the amazing [Dontbevain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontbevain) for betaing!

_ December 22nd, London - England _

_ Ring. _

Joe tapped his fingers against his old nightstand, the varnish and finish starting to wear and peel from the many years of his younger self putting glasses of liquid on it with no coaster.

_ Ring. _

He took a deep breath, trying to push past the silly, selfish worry that it would go to voicemail. If it went to voicemail, that probably just meant Jean was busy, which he was a lot of the time, and Joe had to accept that sometimes his fiancé wouldn’t be able to pick up.

_ Ring. _

“Come on…” he whispered quietly, turning to look out his childhood bedroom, watching his mum with a smile. She was giving the bathroom another clean as if Jean was royalty, and they were only allowed to have things at their best when he was around. Joe still couldn’t believe how well his mum and Jean had gotten along. Joe was no longer the spoiled only child he had once been, now his mom had two boys, and she played favorites.

Not that Joe minded. He knew it meant a lot to Jean to have a mother’s love.

_ Ring. _

_ Ring. _

Now held his breath as the sixth ring started and let it all out in a rush when he heard the line pick up and Jean’s slightly out of breath voice whisper into his ear. “Joe?”

“H-hey,” Joe felt his cheeks go hot at how Jean’s voice sounded lovely even when out of breath. “Sorry, I hope you weren’t busy.”

“Eh, no, Darling. I’m able to talk.” Immediately after those words left his mouth, the soft, breathless voice of Jean Durain left, and Le Chiffre starting barking orders in some Baltic sounding language at someone who had to be in the room with him. Joe raised an eyebrow when suddenly his Jean was back with a click of his tongue and a sigh. “I apologize. Some of my staff here do not realize that privacy is needed when I’m on the phone.”

“Oh, is this a private phone call?” Joe teased. “If I’d known, I would have worn something a bit sexier.”

He waved off the look that his mum shot him from the hall, of course, having just passed by at the right time to hear that bit. He brought his attention back to the phone as he heard Jean let out a soft laugh. 

“How I wish it could be one of those calls, but unfortunately, I need these men to see me as Le Chiffre and not the man slave of a Mr. Conner.” Another laugh when Joe snorted at that, and then he grew serious again. “Did you need something, Joe? Are you alright? Your moth-“

“Calm down,” Joe hushed gently with such a fond smile he knew he would look like a fool if anyone could see him. “Everyone is fine. Mum’s cleaning the house again, and the duck is thawing. I was just calling to make sure you had your boarding pass and everything ready for tomorrow.”

He could hear Jean’s smile, and he tried not to feel stupid when Jean chuckled. “Yes, Love. I have my boarding pass, my bags are packed, and my cab is scheduled to take me to the airport three hours before my flight leaves.”

Joe ran a hand over his red cheeks, knowing that asking a well seasoned traveler like Jean Duran, Le Chiffre, was the dumbest thing he could have done. But it still made him so pleased when Jean went through the checklist anyway. “Alright, alright.. I’m just excited, you wanker.”

He got another low husky chuckle that made his toes curl and wished that Jean was there with him right that second so he could steal that sound right from Jean’s mouth with his own. It was pretty bad when they had only been separated a week and a half. Joe was already missing his fiancé something awful.

“I miss you, Jean.” He cradled his phone to his ear to make sure Jean heard every word. “I miss you, and I love you.”

“And I, you, Zog i vogël.” Jean whispered back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Can’t wait.”

  
  
  


_ December 23rd, Warsaw, Poland - Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport _

His one-stop flight from Kazakhstan to Turkey then to Poland had not been bad at all, truly one of the best flights compared to flights he had taken in his earlier days where he had to hide in crates and the like. No, his flight had honestly been somewhat pleasant where he got to catch up on his sleep so he wouldn’t be an overworked corpse to Joe and his mother. 

The flight from Warsaw to London however, was an absolutely horrible experience. It would not have been terrible had the flight not been delayed a few hours., Unexpected flurries had started in London, leaving all departing flights grounded, and they had decided to wait it out and see if conditions improved. 

Jean pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. It was already two hours past the time his flight was supposed to take off. He’d have to call Joe to let him know about the change, which was something he was not looking forward to. Joe had been so excited about this, especially after Jean had been on such a long trip. It was supposed to be a wonderful way to spend the holidays after a time away. Spend a week with V and then they’d go to southern France for a bit before traveling back to their home in Florence. It had sounded fantastic even as a small tiny thought that Joe had one summer afternoon as they laid in bed together. Joe was lost in thought while he played with Jean’s left hand, the hand recently adorned with a beautiful sterling silver ring with a thin band of polished onyx in the middle.

It had been a shock when Joe had asked, on a seemingly ordinary Thursday night, his feet resting in Jean’s lap as he asked casually when they would finally settle down.

That Thursday, August eleventh was the day Jean knew good things could happen to awful people.

He spun his ring on his finger a few times with his thumb and wished that he could be in London, in the tall narrow home where Joe had grown up, talking happily with V while all three of them eat her lovely meals. He wanted to be in that double bed with that perfect beautiful man who pushed his way into Le Chiffre’s life and found Jean. He took out his mobile and dialed Joe’s number, sighing when it rang only twice before Joe picked up.

“Hey!”

Jean smiled. Joe sounded a little breathless, and the idea of him immediately dropping anything he was doing to answer made Jean want to purr in pleasure. He knew his boy loved him, and Jean would spend everyday making sure Joe felt just how much he was cherished.

“Hello,” he replied, sighing softly at the end. “So, we have an issue.”

He was glad he didn’t have to see Joe’s face when he said it, knowing Joe’s face was already crumpling a few countries away, but the quiet worried noise he made still broke Jean’s heart.

“I figured when you texted an hour ago that your flight was delayed and then never sent another.”

Jean sighed and then nodded, even though Joe could not see it. “I’m going to wait until I can get a flight, dearest. I’m not letting a few snowflakes keep me from you.”

The noise Joe made in the back of his throat made Jean’s gut burn with a need to see him, to touch him and hold him until Joe’s taste and scent were melded with his own. He bit his bottom lip and glanced up, watching as people started to get comfortable on the airport floor, some even already sleeping in the chairs. He glanced back down at the ground when he heard Joe’s soft voice.

“It’s more than just a few snowflakes, Jean. It’s actually getting worse. I’ve had to shovel the front steps twice now so mum could get out and do her last minute grocery shopping.”

Jean hated hearing that lovely voice sound so defeated, so much like when they had first met, and the nightmares Joe had been through still plagued him. He wanted to say something comforting, something reassuring that would help Joe not feel so sad, but there was nothing.

“We’ll see how it is soon. It cannot snow forever. I will not allow it.” That at least got a small chuckle from his boy, and Jean held onto that sound as best as he could. 

“You should try to get some sleep.” Joe offered wisely, knowing that Jean without five hours of sleep meant the world had hell to pay. “Maybe you should try and find a room at a hotel.”

“A hotel would make it difficult to catch my flight if they end up only delaying it.” Jean frowned, wondering why Joe was giving up so fast. He had that worrying thought of thinking he was weak and couldn’t wait out the snow, but after a second, he knew that was foolish. “Do you not want me there on Christmas?”

“Yes, because that’s what I said.” Joe snapped, surprising Jean and apparently also himself because he quickly sighed and apologized. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap, I’m just tired, and I really miss you, but I don’t want you to fret and get frustrated over something you can’t help.”

Jean frowned, wanting to argue that he knew sometimes there were things he just could not control. He felt the familiar wetness in the corner of his eye that slowly slid down the side of his nose and cursed softly, telling Joe to hold for a moment as he switched ears so he could grab his handkerchief out of his pocket. He dabbed at the blood, frowning when he noticed a couple of people look his way but chose to ignore them as he cleaned himself up and tucked the small red stained white cloth back into his jacket pocket.

“You alright, love?” Joe’s voice whispered into his ear. He quickly moved the phone back into a more comfortable position. 

“Yes, sorry.” Jean sighed. “And I know you are right. Staying up at the airport will get me nowhere but tired and irritable.”

“Which no one wants or can handle.” Joe gave the softest of laughs. “Expect for me.”

Jean felt his heart well up with such love and affection that he had the irrational thought that a tidal wave of emotion was going to overcome him right in that airport, and he would die. That silly thought passed quickly, but his devotion to Joe never would. “Yes, except you,  _ zemer. _ Always you.”

They said their goodbyes quietly, knowing that even if off by a few days, they would be together again eventually. Jean sat there for a moment longer, not surprised when the status of his flight quickly changed from delayed to cancelled. He sighed, defeated, and stood up, ready to find which hotels still had vacancies. 

That was when he spotted the car rental area, and a plan started to form.

  
  
  


_ December 24th, Christmas Eve - London -England  _

Joe tucked his wrapped presents under the tree next to his mum’s and frowned. 

“How come your presents looks like they came right from a catalogue and mine look like a baby t-rex tried wrapping them?” He heard his mum laugh in the kitchen, and she popped her head through the doorway to get a look at what he was talking about. His frown only deepened when she let out another laugh, though this one was almost to the point of hysterics as she pointed at the one present he had wrapped for Jean. It was relatively one of the smallest gifts he had bought for the man, a box about the size of his hand, but what was in the box was extremely valuable. He had been so excited to give it to Jean on Christmas morning.

Anyhow.

Said box was wrapped in three different types of wrapping paper, each strip wrapped around the box in a messy, crumpled way. He gave his mum a sheepish look and shrugged as if it was no issue. “I ran out of the first kind of wrapping paper, so I improvised.”

“With two other types of wrapping paper?”

Joe made a face as if he had bitten into a lemon. “Don’t you have a ham to prep?”

“Don’t you have errands to run?”

He pouted, smiling when he heard her laugh again. “Come on, Joe. I need the bacon, eggs, crumpets and at least a little more butter.”

Joe hummed, standing up and shuffling towards the kitchen, watching as his mom bustled around the room preparing for tomorrow’s dinner. She always did this, made extravagant meals with so much food, it was impossible to finish in one day, and once Jean joined their small family, it had only become worse. His heart tugged a little at that thought, emotions turning blue again. “Why are you making so much? It’s only going to be the two of us tomorrow.”

She kept pressing salt to the ham, making sure the outside of the ham was covered in a thin layer of kosher salt. Some recipe his dad had brought back from the states years ago when Joe had just been a small potato baby. “Leftovers are an important part of any holiday. You know that, Joey. This way, he won’t starve when he gets here.”

Joe huffed. “As if you’d let your favorite son starve.”

“You know me so well.” She chirped happily, then turned to look at Joe, and her smile dimmed. “Darling? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” He replied quickly and immediately knew his mom saw through that farce. She put the salt down and moved to turn on the faucet so she could rid her hands of salt before moving over to him and wrapped her thin arms around him. He didn’t know why; maybe it was the fact that his mum had been his sole confidant, and comfort for almost his entire life, but as soon as she gave him a tight squeeze, he felt the tears well up and started slipping down his cheeks. “I miss him.”

“Oh, Joey, I know.” She continued to hold him as his crying turned to soft sobs, his arm going around her small frame to hold on. “I know you do, but he’ll be here eventually.”

“I know.” He sniffed, pressing his face against her shoulder, the scratchy wool of her sweater bringing back memories of her warm embrace as a young boy. “I don’t know why I’m acting like this. At most, it will only be a few days. We’ve gone longer than this when I can’t find the vacation time to go with him, but for some reason, this time, it feels so much worse.”

“Because this is the first Christmas since you’ve been with each other that he can’t be here.” She replied softly, kissing his hair. “The second Christmas after your father and I were married, he had to work at the office overnight. He was only an hour or so away, but I felt so awful that I cried into my tin of digestives.”

Joe gave a watery smile at that.

“My point being is that it’s completely normal to become a blubbering mess when someone you love can’t be somewhere for an important event.” 

Joe pulled away slightly with a laugh. “Excuse me? I don’t think I’m quite a blubbering mess.”

His mum laughed and used her thumbs to wipe away the tears from his red blotchy cheeks, giving each cheek a kiss and pat. “Feeling a little better? Always better out than in, I say.”

Joe gave a small laugh and nodded because it was true, bottling everything up and telling himself that feeling sad about this was childish had been awful. Crying and admitting it made him feel lighter, and in a way better; he gave his mum a loving smile before he leaned down to place a soft kiss against her forehead. “Thanks, Mum.”

“Of course, Darling.” She replied with her own smile, then reached behind him to give his ass a slap. “Now, go buy my groceries.”

“Yes, your highness.” Joe laughed as he went to get his boots on.

  
  
  


_ December 25th London - England - 5 am _

Jean leaned against the cab window, his eyes were so dry they burned every time he closed them but he couldn’t resist. He let himself doze for at least fifteen minutes, refusing to fall fully asleep until he had Joe in his arms again. He blinked and opened his eyes to see the sea of white that covered the city and homes. The unusual snowfall had been heavy, and it was no wonder why all flights to the UK had been canceled, but that had not stopped Jean from getting to his love.

It had been long, agonizing sixteen hour and some odd minute drive from Warsaw, through Germany and Belgium to get to Calais. Running on no sleep had been a mistake, but he finally made it to Le tunnel sous la Manche. After returning his car, Jean quickly bought a ticket, thankful that the worst of the storm had stopped so that it was running. He had taken a two hour nap on the train, keeping his bags filled with clothes and gifts close. He felt a little more refreshed than he had before as he arrived in Kent and called for a cab. The man seemed surprised he wanted a cab all the way into Chelsea, but he wasn’t about to turn down at least a hundred and twenty pounds worth a fare.

After nearly two hours of delay due to traffic, the cab was pulling up to the small home that Jean had been dreaming of for the past few weeks. He leaned forward to give the man his card, the name Gordon Purdue printed across it, it was swiped, and soon Jean was out on the front steps with his bags. He took a deep breath before reaching forward to press the bell. When nothing happened, he pressed again and then again when there were no results.

Finally, on the fifth ring, the door was wrenched open and Jean took in a startled breath. There was his love, with bed head curls everywhere, eyes bright blue with anger and a scowl that made the whole image irresistible to Jean.

“What the hell do you wa-“ 

Jean watched as Joe’s face went slack with shock, staring wildly as if he were seeing some sort of spirit or spectre in front of him. Jean gave a soft smile, reaching forward to cup Joe’s warm cheek with his chilled hands, watching a slight shiver run up Joe’s body at the contact.

“Wha-how?” Joe asked softly, still frozen and staring up at Jean.

“Merry Christmas, zemer.” Jean murmured softly and so full of love. “I made it home.”

He laughed only for a second when Joe barreled into his arms and hugged him tightly, wrapping his arms around the younger man, holding him just as tightly. He kissed Joe’s hair, raising an eyebrow when he heard Joe mutter something into the fabric of his coast.

“What?”

Joe lifted his head and Jean could see crystal like tears slipping down Joe’s cheeks. He made a worried sound, moving to ask if the other was alright when Joe grabbed him by his collar.

“I said you’re insane, you beautiful, stupid man.”

And then he was jerked forward, Joe giving him such a passionate kiss that Jean didn’t even mind the slight morning breath, and he kissed back with just as much fervor. They kissed up against the door until they were breathless, pulling apart to rest their foreheads against one another gently, and Joe laughed softly. “We’re snogging on my mum’s front steps at five in the morning during winter.”

“We should get you inside, Joe.”

“I guess,” Joe replied breathlessly with a large sappy grin spread across his face. “I can’t believe you're here.”

“I had to make sure you received your presents on Christmas day."

Joe raised an eyebrow with a grin. “You mean I get more than you being here? I must have been a very good boy.”

Jean grinned, giving him one last kiss before opening the door. “Oh, but I do hope you’ll be naughty once everything is settled and your mother goes to sleep tonight.”

Joe beamed at that. “I can do that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Zog i vogël - Little BIrd
> 
> Zemer - Heart


End file.
